About us
A door in Rustenburg that opens without papers
Empowering. Integrating. Transforming Lives.
Who we are
North West House of Refuge, in Rustenburg, North West.
We work with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants living in and around Rustenburg. Some people come to us about a permit that is about to run out. Some come because a child has nowhere to go to school, or because there is no food this week, or because they have been turned away somewhere they had every right to be.
Our mission is three words long — Empowering. Integrating. Transforming Lives. — and the work behind them is ordinary and specific: sitting with somebody while they fill in a form, going with them to Home Affairs, finding the school place, making the referral, and keeping a record so the next person they speak to does not start from nothing.
- Where to find us
- 12 Pretorius Street, Rustenburg 0300Next to FNB, in the same building as Rock of Spring College
- Phone
- 081 496 8907
How we work
Four things that are true before you tell us anything.
These are not a promise about how we hope to behave. Each one is built into how the office runs and into the system that holds the records, which is why we can print them on a page rather than say them at a desk.
Walk in — no appointment
The office is open to anyone who arrives. You do not need to be referred, and you do not need to have phoned first.
No documents needed to be seen
An expired permit, a lost file or no papers at all does not stop you being helped. Bringing what you have makes some things faster; bringing nothing is not a reason to stay away.
Four languages
You can be helped in English, French, Swahili or Portuguese, and asked which one you prefer before anything else is asked.
Nothing recorded without your permission
You are asked before any detail about you is written down, and told what it is for. Saying no does not stop you being helped today.
What the work is
Five pillars, and every programme sits under one of them.
They are not a way of describing the work after the fact. Every programme, every case and every enrolment on record names one of them, so what you read here is the same list the organisation is answerable to.
Advocacy & Documentation
- Permit applications and renewals
- Going with you to Home Affairs
- Birth registration
- Legal referral
Skills & Entrepreneurship
- Cooperative training and support
- Skills training
Education
- School placement
Social Cohesion
- Community dialogues and events
- Food and emergency support
Women & Youth Empowerment
- Support after gender-based violence
- Child protection
- Programmes for young people
NWHR in numbers
- 5
Programme pillars
Documentation, education, skills, social cohesion, women and youth.
- 4
Languages
The help guide answers in English, French, Kiswahili and Português.
- 0
Records without consent
Nothing about a person is stored until they have agreed to it.
Our partners
South African Refugee Led Network
Working together to strengthen refugee-led communities and create meaningful change.
If you need help, you do not need to read any further.
Come to the office, or phone. Nobody is turned away for arriving without an appointment, without papers, or without knowing what to ask for.